The Appearance of the Sun and Moon Seen Through Clouds
Abstract
The sun occasionally appears fuzzy through altostratus because altostratus is composed of larger particles than other clouds, and is of the necessary optical thickness. Experimental results indicate that the range of optical thicknesses of a cloud at which a fuzzy sun is seen increases with the size of the particles. This relationship is caused by an increase in the attenuation of contrast at high spatial frequencies relative to that at low spatial frequencies when the size of cloud particles increases. The increase in, the size of cloud particles is caused by the presence of raindrops and crystals in the cloud.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 1993
- Accession Number
- ADA275338
Entities
People
- Jeffrey R. Linskens
Organizations
- Air Force Institute of Technology